What demand is there for Aristo Knuckle couplers ? What prices are being asked for them ?
I’m considering a possible clearance of some…
Fred Mills
There are also some Bachmann couplers in the pile…even the odd metal one…
Following. Me too.
I used to give mine away to someone. I don’t remember who it was at this moment.
I would be interested FR. Fred. I have seen them sell for anywhere from $4 a pair to a ridiculous $20 a pair.
How many couplers do you want, Lou ? Are they only for your use ?
Fred Mills
Since I just joined the forum today and couplers are of interest to me I would like to know how you rate the knuckle couplers by brand. I’ve been in G scale for some 30 years and have always used the LGB Knuckle couplers, true they are probably the most over sized one on the market, but they have always worked well for me. I did purchase most of my coulpers (LGB) some 25-30 years ago and at a cost of around $5.00 a pair. When I look at what it would cost me to change all them out for a more to scale coupler today I sometimes wonder if it’s worth the cost, were talking 40 pair here.
trainman
John Lenheiser said:
Since I just joined the forum today and couplers are of interest to me I would like to know how you rate the knuckle couplers by brand. I’ve been in G scale for some 30 years and have always used the LGB Knuckle couplers, true they are probably the most over sized one on the market, but they have always worked well for me. I did purchase most of my coulpers (LGB) some 25-30 years ago and at a cost of around $5.00 a pair. When I look at what it would cost me to change all them out for a more to scale coupler today I sometimes wonder if it’s worth the cost, were talking 40 pair here.
trainman
If they are working well for you, why would you consider switching? What are you looking for in a coupler?
Welcome to LSC John.
In my opinion, no one brand of coupler checks all the boxes. Each has advantages and disadvantages. It really depends on what you want from a coupler…
Scale Size & Appearance
Reliability in staying coupled on less than perfect track
Reliability in coupling (especially for operations)
Ease of uncoupling (especially for operations)
Method of uncoupling
When I began some 20 years ago, most of my cars were Aristo Delton Classics. They featured a reasonably sized coupler that had good reliability and used prototypical uncoupling pins. I started collecting them from others who were discarding them and changed over numerous Aristo and USA cars to the Delton style coupler. I kept the stock coupler on some of my 1:22 scale Bachmann cars, but modified them to eliminate the built-in droop that caused a lot of problems by uncoupling while running. I did not like the 1:29 Aristocraft style as they were too dificult to both couple and uncouple. USA 1:29 couplers were pretty good, but did not play nice with anything else, so I took them off.
10 years in, I began the slow change-over from generic G Scale (mix of 1:22 / 1:24 and 1:29) cars to 1:20.3 Fn3 scale. A few of my first Fn3 scale cars came from Accucraft. I always admired the scale look of their coupler, even if it is a bit oversize for most narrow gauge. It also featured the prototypical pin style uncoupler. As I gathered up Fn3 stock I stayed with the Accucraft coupler. Al Pomeroy, of this forum, coached me in minor modifications that would make the Accucraft couplers couple more reliably. After several years of running outdoors in sometimes damp conditions, the steel drop pins began to rust and began giving me problems coupling during operations.
Perhaps 4 years ago I stopped converting Bachmann Fn3 cars to Accucraft couplers and began using a mix. Bachmann FN3 couplers are not as pretty as Accucraft, but still use a pin method for uncoupling which I desire. I didn’t notice the pin sticking problem with them. As a result of being given of a large box of discarded Bachmann couplers, I began slowly converting over to Bachmann Fn3 couplers. Now that I have cherry picked all the good ones from that box I need to determine if I should try and figure out how to fix the ones that are gunked up (probably from being oiled) or go back to Accucraft.
I have a few cars that came with Kaydee G Scale couplers. They are very reliable when coupling and running, but I could never master the “screwdriver technique” for uncoupling. Since my primary mode of running is operations, I stayed away from Kaydee.
So, with 20 years of experience, I still cant say for sure which is the best coupler for me.
My best advice to you is if you are happy with what you are running, don’t change. It’s your railroad and your decision what is most important.
Thanks for the coupler info, I will probably just stick with the LGB knuckle couplers for now. I have thought of just painting them a rust color which will hide the size somewhat and if you weather the cars, it even hides the couplers even more.
trainman
John Lenheiser said:
Since I just joined the forum today
Welcome John!
Fred Mills. said:
How many couplers do you want, Lou ? Are they only for your use ?
Fred Mills
Who else would use them ?
HO guys with bad eyesight?
Hay! I resemble that remark. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Lou has a bunch on their way to him, free of all charges.
Fred Mills
Kadee makes rust colored couplers, check it out.
……YES Dan, and have for quite a few years…
Fred mills
“Hey” is not “Hay”…David…!!!
Fred
Fred Mills. said:
“Hey” is not “Hay”…David…!!!
Fred
Hey, everybody, am I the only one whose mother said, “Hay for horses!” ?
Hey! I appreciate Fr. Fred. I feel closer to him now.
(Get it, couplers - closer?)
Hrumph
John Passaro said:
Fred Mills. said:
“Hey” is not “Hay”…David…!!!
Fred
Hey, everybody, am I the only one whose mother said, “Hay for horses!” ?
No.